Holding Stock in God: The Ultimate Security
by Stephen Dynako, IPS Student
I attended Loyola University Chicago as an undergraduate from 1984-1989, majoring in communication. In addition to hosting the mid-day shift at Loyola’s WLUW radio station (which was then a top-40 station, nicknamed “Hitline 88-7 FM, if you can believe it.), I worked at a couple of commercial radio stations in Chicago. Immediately upon earning my degree, I ventured out into the corporate world, where I have worked for the past 22 years.
During most of my tenure in corporate America, I did not contemplate the presence of God with me in the midst of the deadlines, narcissistic personalities, variously inspirational and incompetent managers, celebrating the successes of closing the big deals, and lamenting the ones that slipped through our fingers. Don’t misunderstand me: If it seems I am putting it down, on the contrary, I have loved most every minute in working in “the business,” dysfunction and all.
In 2001, I had my own business – a small technology consulting practice, which I founded in 1993. The beginning of the end of that business occurred when the United States suffered through 9/11. In closing my business, I was compelled to seek a paying job elsewhere and entered the banking industry, where I continue to work full time while attending IPS. My dark night of the soul was the time in between shutting the business and finding the new job, which did not come quickly. It was during this time that I turned to faith in something greater than myself to encourage and strengthen me and ultimately to provide for me.
When I entered the banking business, I had to work my way up from the bottom, starting as a management trainee. By this time, the practice of my faith was weaving more tightly into the fiber of my being. Where I previously did not contemplate the presence of God in “my business,” I consciously sought Spirit’s counsel in all that I did to sustain and grow in this new career. This was a necessity, as I absolutely despised my first year working in banking, but I determined that hopelessness was not an option.
Today, I work in a corporate-level position at the bank where I am employed and I enjoy what I do. Gratefully, I have not forgotten the refuge and the strength that God provided to me during that dark transitional period. In recognition of this, each day, upon arriving at work and just before I leave, I bless my workspace and offer thanks to God for this channel of worldly support.
My experience is proof of God’s omnipresence, even in the places where we may feel the most separate from Him – especially in the office. Where I can, I seek to illuminate this truth to others. We never need to feel we must go it alone. The crazy thing about corporate America is the culture expects us to be ego-driven, that successful functioning pivots solely on the person. The powerful lesson for me is that I never considered myself successful until I sought God’s help in my work.
Where I am able and where others are receptive to the message, I pray that I can use my experience as an example to demonstrate the truth that holding stock in God is the most successful strategy for anybody’s business.